About Homoeopathy

I am a new member at Atheist Nexus. Let me share a bafflement that I have faced and on which I am sure friends here can throw some light. I have been a follower of Homoeopathy and have personally seen several miraculous cures through this system of medicine. But I was baffled by some atheists, who are also well respected scientists and activists of popular science, who have made some very harsh statements about the scientific validity of Homoeopathy. As a layman, who is interested in the propagation of scientific thinking, I am pained at this attack of scientific community on a system of medicine which has been serving me for quite some time. Can anybody help me understand my own position?

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A note on infants and animals benefitting from alternative medicines. Not only do, as stated, some conditions sort themselves out, remember also that infants and animals can gain something of a placebo effect from the behaviour of their parents/owners, respectively. If the parent seems much calmer because they think their child is being treated, the child can benefit from some of the placebo effect.

This is true..This was proven with lab rats..They took two sets of rats and made them sick...One group got extra attention,cuddles,shoulder rides,etc...The other group was ignored.
The rats who got the attention and saw they were cared for recovered faster than those who were ignored.
I think i read this in Science Digest...it's somewhere on the net.

Placebo effect is not just in the mind - it is also the observing, it is everything that is not being measured or controlled for. Placebo pill is what is used to match (control) for the part of being in the study. There are two different things the term placebo is used for - it makes it confusing.

I lean very much toward most 'hippie' type things but I actually don't get behind homeopathy like many of my circle do. I do support breast-milk as an amazing cure and have used it to help my husband and older non-nursing children cure pink eye and various other things like stomach aliments. There is scientific basis to that. I also have experienced many advantages of chiropractic and acupuncture. I do think there is studies that have shown support.

Many things in the alternative medicine route are not studied in depth I think so there is some leway each individual can take. I also don't trust mainstream medicine so I am kinda in a general non-trusting place. Sure, many things do work to a certain extent but at what cost for other parts of the body. That is also a give and take. This pill/treatment will cure whatever is making you sick but will also damage your liver...etc mainstream medicine is so heavy handed and they are also playing a guessing game at times! I do think many people are so trusting of their doctors that it becomes a religion/cult of personality like relationship. My particular route of study is the maternity/newborn care realm but it extends to all parts of mainstream medicine.

The methods that are used to 'prove' a medicine or treatment work are not as scientific as a layperson would like to think!

I have been a follower of Homoeopathy and have personally seen several miraculous cures through this system of medicine.

If one is consistently looking for "signs" one will find "signs". Believers in their own rights have seen the "evidence of god's power" and "god's magic" in work.. It is a case of a self-fulfilling prophecy and in addition, the placebo effect.

There is absolutely zero evidence for homeopathy and it is based on irrationality and a lack of scientific knowledge. Homeopathy is in its own right a cult-like following based in part in similar dogma such as religious following.

Belief and use of both homopathy and herbal medicine in sub-continent got more to do with finacial condition of the people than effects of these drugs. People often in search of a cheaper medicinial system than alopathy get intrested in miraclus effects of these drugs. who cares to test what effects they produce(For us psychological impression of being treated is enough).

Maybe it's such a hot button keyword topic because of the word 'homo' in it!?It's just lame though to grind up plant/herb matter and put it in a gelatin/plastic pill... ? hey, I'm no scientist by profession but when you've read enough and seen enough..

alcohol is a drugdrug is a drugit's all dice rolling.. no pun. can't stand synthetics; trickery!